AFM applications to study the morphology of HfO2 multilayer thin films

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a technique that has extensively been used to reveal details on surfaces using different scanning techniques. Multilayer hafnium oxide (HfO2) thin films deposited by electron beam evaporation at room temperature on three different glass substrates (including Corning, commercial and wind screen glasses) are discussed for their surface analysis using atomic force microscopy. AFM characterization involves structural morphology, grain size and grain distribution, etc. AFM micrographs show that the films are uniform and crack-free. The average roughness, maximum peak to valley height, root mean square (RMS) roughness, surface skewness and kurtosis parameters are investigated to analyze the surface morphology of HfO2 multilayer thin films. Results show that the RMS surface roughness decreases for commercial glass substrate to Corning to wind screen glass. On the other hand grain size demonstrates an opposite trend. Thus an increase in grain boundary area with decreasing grain size might be associated with the rise in RMS surface roughness. These films show an almost homogeneous and uniform distribution of grains according to AFM images.